Killer Joe (William Friedkin – 2011) B+

I knew almost nothing about this film before seeing it and it was a nice surprise. Set in Texas and centering around a seriously trashy trailer park family who come up with a half-baked plan to kill their mom for the insurance money. They hire Killer Joe to do the deed. Really, the plan to kill the mom is not the worst thing these dimwits do. The aforementioned Joe is a sick sadistic puppy who still needs to get paid when the plan inevitably goes wrong. Strong performances in a tight (and very disturbing) plot. Some scenes here will be tough to “un-see”. I’m very curious about those new choices in roles Matthew McConaughey has been doing semi-recently. They seem to be in stark contrast to the usual “romantic comedy-Kate Hudson” crap he had been churning out. He was very good here as Joe and I am looking forward to see him in stuff like Mud and Dallas Buyer’s Club.